Egypt's Pilot Gas Production

A pilot production at Egypt’s Eni SpA-operated Zohr natural gas field will begin “in the coming few days”, the oil ministry said, as the country nears its goal of commercial output from the biggest gas discovery in the Mediterranean Sea by the end of this year. Gas is being pumped from the national distribution system to test pipelines in preparation for output from the offshore field, Oil Minister Tarek El-Molla said on Sunday in an emailed statement. "Production will start before the yearend at about 350 million cubic feet per day," he said. Output will rise to some 1 billion cubic feet per day by mid-2018 and reach 2.7 billion by the end of 2019, the ministry said Dec. 1 by email. Zohr marks a turning point that would spell an end to the tenders that suppliers from Glencore Plc to Trafigura PTE Ltd. have won in the past. Once it starts production, the field will help end Egypt’s reliance on imported liquefied natural gas next year.